Gateway to the stars?

April 09, 2007|By Fred Gray News-Review Staff Writer

Gateway to the stars?

CHARLEVOIX - David Smith, Ph.D., Commander, USCG (Ret.), living in Charlevoix, has a patent pending on a device he believes could provide the basis for propelling a vehicle in space at ever increasing speeds, eventually attaining velocities close to the speed of light in a matter of months.

A video of Smith demonstrating his device

Smith said the use of the device, for example, could replace expensive and complex ion engines currently used in deep-space exploratory missions and would allow satellites to operate without using non-renewable gases to correct their orientation.

"The effective life of a satellite is primarily dependent on the endurance of its maneuvering jet gas supply. An electrical/mechanical array of compact reactionless propulsors would allow a near unlimited life for a satellite," Smith wrote to Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan in January.

Smith wrote Levin to gain the interest of industry and government in his non-reactive propulsion ideas. Smith admits that his devices are crude and his testing is unsophisticated. However, the devices appear to produce linear motion.

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"Scaling up and/or ganging such devices would also provide a potential for constant acceleration and deep space flight at speeds markedly above those now present in chemical/mass ejection propulsion," he wrote.

He noted that the ion drive is a current, accepted form of electrical space locomotion.

"However, as opposed to ion engines, the propulsion units I've constructed are small and totally uncomplicated, having as few as 10 moving parts," he wrote.

Smith asked Levin to help speed development of the device because of the danger posed by Chinese anti-satellite tests and the positive impact his device might have on the transportation industry, especially in Michigan.

"Miniaturization presents the possibility of the devices being sandwiched by the hundreds or thousands into a sheet with the top layer a solar accumulator and the bottom layer a battery.

"When combined with detailed wiring and computer controlled orientation, the skin or shell of any vehicle (Michigan-produced autos for example) could then provide part (as in enhanced fuel economy/reduced air pollution) or all of its propulsion and braking force. Similarly, a pill-like body driven and oriented by miniature, propulsive, magnetically or radio controlled mechanisms could be moved within a medical patient as an exploratory tool.

"Limited budget and lack of interest/perception among potential sponsors has dogged development and research. I have been reluctant to offer these concepts to the defense industry as they can be the basis of fearsome weapons. My decided preference would be for human betterment, not deterrence," he concluded.

Smith has also sent a copy of the letter to Congressman Bart Stupak but has not yet received a reply from either.

Over several years Smith, 69, has built a number of simple propulsor prototypes on his basement workbench that demonstrate the principle of "reactionless mechanical propulsion," meaning that it does not push against any medium or eject mass.

Smith's propulsion system, which translates rotary motion into a linear force, has been criticized because it apparently contravenes Newton's Third Law that holds for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. Smith believes that the law is not contravened but employed as the device stores rotational energy which is then released in only one direction.

Smith notes that a number of inventors claim to have invented reactionless propulsion devices but none appear to have been developed to the point of commercial or military application.

The device is built of clear plastic plates in which two weighted arms rotate around a central axis in opposite directions to cancel out torque.

The device is placed on model train cars, which rest on track attached to a flat board that in turn sits on a level bed of marbles. Smith says this arrangement shows that the motion of the device is not caused by pushing against the tracks as the board does not move opposite to the device's motion.

When power is applied to two small electric motors that spin the arms, the device moves jerkily forward along the tracks until the electrical current is reversed to move it in the opposite direction.

Smith comments that he has been involved in obtaining a patent for his device for the last four years, while Dr. Shipov only recently revealed his invention without a detailed explanation of how it works.

Smith's Ph.D. is in education. In 1981 Smith retired from 25 year's service in the U.S. Coast Guard to provide aquatic safety training. Smith currently consults with attorneys and appears as an expert witness in trials involving swimming, drowning, boating and other water-related activities.